Poll: 73 percent favor keeping sales tax

A poll released Monday says that 73 percent of San Diego Countyresidents favor extending the region’s half-penny-on-the-dollarsales tax for transportation, slightly more than the two-thirdsneeded for passage under current state law.

Known as TransNet, the local tax measure has been in place sinceearly 1988 and is due to expire April 1, 2008. Regional officialsplan to ask county voters in November 2004 for permission tocontinue the measure for three decades.

TransNet is one of the region’s most important sources of moneyfor transportation projects, having raised $2.1 billion in 15years: one-third for city streets and country roads, one-third forbuses and trains and one-third for freeways and highways.

Gary Gallegos, executive director for the San Diego Associationof Governments, the agency proposing to place the measure on theballot, said the thin cushion between the 73 percent level ofapparent support and the required margin of 67 percent underscoresthe daunting task of convincing voters of the need to keep the taxon the books.

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Inevitably, he said, “these numbers will come down.”

Still, the results were encouraging to transportation officialsbecause the numbers were similar to preliminary polls taken inRiverside County, the only one of five counties to pass, barely, atransportation sales-tax during the last general election inNovember 2002. San Diego County’s 73 percent total is well abovethe 53 percent of voters who approved the TransNet tax initially in1987, when the threshold for passage of tax measures was amuch-easier-to-get simple majority.

If TransNet were extended, officials said, it would pump anadditional $9.5 billion into the regional transportation pot.

Over the next three decades, the absence or presence of TransNetwould mean the difference between spending $30 billion ontransportation and losing much ground in the fight againstcongestion, or spending more than $40 billion and gaining someground, Gallegos said.

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The measure of local support was determined from a telephonepoll conducted by J. Moore Methods of Sacramento at a cost of$60,000. Between July 10 and 21, the polling firm conducted25-minute interviews with 1,200 likely voters in San Diego County,dividing them into six areas: North County inland, North Countycoastal, north San Diego, East County, South County, and centralSan Diego. The margin of error on the overall sample was plus orminus 3 percent.

The poll found that 73 percent favored extending TransNet, 22percent opposed extending it, and 5 percent had no opinion.

Roughly one-third of respondents were from North County, andthey named the proposed 20 miles of managed lanes on Interstate 15as the most important project in their area. Some 71 percent ratedit “high priority.” The project entails building four exclusivelanes in the middle of the freeway for car-poolers, rapid buses andpaying solo commuters to travel between Kearny Mesa andEscondido.

A proposal to widen Interstate 5 by four lanes through much ofNorth County, and six lanes between Highway 56 and LeucadiaBoulevard, was rated a “high priority” by 66 percent.

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Also rated high priorities were adding two car-pool lanes toHighway 78, widening Highway 76 between Oceanside and I-15 to fourlanes and widening Highway 67 south of Ramona to four lanes.

Joe Kellejian, a Solana Beach councilman and transportationchairman of the regional association, said officials wereparticularly surprised to find 77 percent support for bus rapidtransit and 76 percent support for managed lanes.

Bus rapid transit, San Diego County style, is envisioned as anetwork of bubble-nose, train-like buses that would whisk commutersto work on I-15’s managed lanes. Five bus stations would havedirect links to the “freeway within a freeway” through exclusive"flyover” ramps. Other ramps would allow cars to get on and off.The managed lanes would be a demonstration project that couldspread to other busy highways in the region, such as I-5 andI-805.

Construction is expected to start this fall on the $375 millionfirst phase of I-15 improvements, slated for Highway 56 to ViaRancho Parkway.